You can encounter all sorts of problems while copying files, especially when it comes to large amounts of data. Certain files may be opened or used by other programs or the operating system may prompt you to overwrite files, so you will have to stay in front of your computer during the entire process. In situations like this, you can use ShadowCopy. Copying files from one place to another is the application's only function, which may not sound like much, but unlike Windows Explorer, ShadowCopy is capable of copying any files, including opened or locked ones, without prompting the user for anything.

The application is offered free of charge. It can be installed in a matter of seconds, on Windows XP, Vista, Win 7 and Win 8, as well as the 2003 Server edition. ShadowCopy does not ask for any special tools or services and its hardware requirements are modest.

The user interface displays a few details about the application's functionality, offers for other products, as well as the actual copying options. To copy files you just have to select the source and destination folders and click a button, but you can also make a few other settings before you start. You can tick a few options, in the lower region of the interface, if you wish to copy sub-folders, parse junctions, ignore errors or overwrite files.

If you select the aforementioned options, the application won't ask you for anything while copying your data, so you will be free to leave your computer. Although you can't copy individual files, you can set up file masks, to copy nothing but files with certain names or extensions. The copying process itself is quite fast, but you have to wait a few minutes before it starts, because ShadowCopy will create a shadow for the source drive.

ShadowCopy is particularly useful if you need to migrate to a new hard drive, create new Disk IDs or create new partitions. As previously mentioned, the application is capable of copying any data. Even if you copy the operating system to a new drive, you will be able to boot from the target drive.

Pros: When it comes to copying files, ShadowCopy is more reliable than Windows Explorer. You can copy huge amounts of data much faster. The best part is that you won't be prompted for anything during the process.

Cons: You can't target individual files.

If you are not satisfied with the operating system's copying capabilities, you can make up for this functionality gap with ShadowCopy.